Domineering Daming

After hearing this, Zhu Xu nodded slightly, and said, "We need to replace staff from time to time, or conduct internal audits from time to time, we must not be corrupted internally and we don't know."

Fu Changzong said: "Well, I will arrange it."

Zhu Xu chatted with Fu Changzong for a full hour. Fu Changzong is now his head of foreign affairs, and he assists and participates in all businesses. What's more, his son Fu Tao is also in charge of all accountants. It can be said that the father and son It is very important to him!

At the end, Fu Changzong mentioned another sentence, saying: "Xu'er, you don't need to participate in the affairs of the court, but you can't ignore them."

Zhu Xu sighed secretly again, feeling very helpless in his heart.Fu Changzong, who had always asked him to be cautious, took the initiative to speak up, which shows how much pressure there is on the court.

It can be said that the imperial court at the end of Ming Dynasty has been rotten to the root, there is no bottom line, no offline, as long as it can attack political opponents, even colluding with the Jin people, funding them, and even military deployment blueprints can be leaked at will, betraying the country's territory No hesitation!

Naturally, this kind of thing did not happen in three or two days. Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di were both powerful emperors. Naturally, no one would dare to form cronies under their noses. But after Xuanzong, the mature scholar-official group began to fight with The Son of Heaven struggled for power, wanted to limit the power of the emperor, and various rules and regulations emerged in an attempt to coerce the emperor and block him to death in the deep palace.

The emperors of the Ming Dynasty were so wonderful, but they also had many talents. One of them liked to argue with the ministers about these etiquette standards and these ancestral family laws.

During the Wanli period, the Emperor Wanli hated the ministers in the court because of the shadow Zhang Juzheng had cast on him in his childhood. Not counting the defeat of Zhang Juzheng, the emperor even stopped going to court for more than 20 years!

During this period, it is naturally a great opportunity for courtiers to form cliques and attack dissidents, especially in the last few years. Can't be suppressed, can't be dealt with.

During this period, Emperor Wanli offended another person, and this person was the founder of the Donglin Party, Gu Xiancheng!

As soon as Donglin Academy was opened, within a few years, the Donglin Party became powerful, and soon occupied most of the court, forming the largest cronies in the Tianqi Dynasty!

This clique is still very immature now, but in the Chongzhen Dynasty, when the people are full of power, even if the Emperor Chongzhen changed more than 100 chief ministers and more than [-] ministers, they exchanged back and forth, and at a glance, they were all Donglin Party!

Such a scene, even Zhu Xu, felt chills down his spine just thinking about it!

Zhu Xu lay lazily on the table, resting his chin with one hand, his gaze was dull.

The Donglin Party is terrible, and the Chongzhen who is behind is even more terrifying. This person is murderous without blinking an eye. If he intervenes in the court at this time, Wei Zhongxian may end up with Zhu Xu in a few years.

After thinking about it, Zhu Xu cheered up and gave Fu Changzong an inoculation: "Uncle, we are getting more and more attention-grabbing now, and it is inevitable that there will be loopholes in several commercial firms for those who are interested. Therefore, everything must be kept low-key." , you and Zhou Yingqiu and the others should keep a low profile in the court, and keep a low profile in business, and the emperor's wife is going to give birth in two months, so we can't make trouble at this time."

Fu Changzong saw that Zhu Xu was still so determined, so he stopped and said: "That's also good, try to go to the Empress's side as little as possible in the future, so as not to make him fall in love with the scene."

Zhu Xu was silent, Empress Zhang's pregnancy had actually been sentenced to death by the imperial physician, and most of them were infertile, but Empress Zhang insisted that no one could predict the final result.

After staying for a while, Zhu Xu left Fu's mansion and sat in the carriage to go back to the palace.

They didn't go far, when suddenly the curtain of the car was lifted, and a pale young man walked in.

"I have seen Your Highness." Zhu Zonghan bowed and said.

Zhu Xu was stunned for a moment, then quickly waved his hands and said, "Sit down."

Zhu Zonghan sat down next to Zhu Xu, and reported directly: "This subordinate has been to Liaodong for the past few days, and has done everything you told me to do. I have already arranged all the tea stations, all of which were looted and then robbed. The Han people driven out by the masters have a legitimate status and will not attract attention."

Zhu Xu nodded in satisfaction, and said: "Well, I have almost handled the matter of water transportation. Later, I will have someone take you to take over the salt farm. You should know better than me how to sell it."

Zhu Zonghan bowed slightly, and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness, as long as no one steals the business, Liaodong alone can earn 1000 million taels every year!"

1000 million taels?

Zhu Xu's expression remained unchanged, but he was startled in his heart. Then he silently calculated, the current population of Liaodong is about 400 million?If this is the case, then Zhu Zonghan may want to make exotic goods to live in and raise prices.

But this is also a way to weaken Hou Jin, he nodded slightly, and said: "Well, yes, when the time comes, the channels will be spread through private salt, and all kinds of luxury goods can also enter Liaodong immediately, hmph, they can savagely rob In the past, I was able to get back twice as much civilization!"

Zhu Zonghan listened silently, and Zhu Xu confessed again, then he quietly opened the curtain and disappeared into the alley on the side without a sound.

After walking for a while, Cao Wenzhao turned his head and said, "Your Highness, this person is suitable for working in secret."

Zhu Xu nodded, and said: "Someone will take him to take over the saltworks. Except for the accountant, let him arrange for others."

"It's Your Highness." Cao Wenzhao agreed, and rode his horse straight to the palace gate.

Zhu Xu didn't want to come out of such a ghostly weather with his increasingly lazy personality. As soon as he returned to Jinghuan Palace, he hid in the ice pile. Although it was still unbearably hot, there were ice cubes on his face and neck After rubbing it back and forth, he still found a little refreshment.

In the study, Zhu Xu sat on a chair, looked up at the wall opposite, and sighed: "Hey, if there is something, it would be nice to blow some cold wind down."

Naturally, no one could understand why Zhu Xu couldn't bear the summer that people were used to. Cao Huachun stood not far from him, and waited for His Royal Highness King Hui to breathe a sigh of relief before saying, "Your Highness, that Yang Huaizhong has come to the capital."

Zhu Xu raised his brows when he heard the words, and said after recalling, "Is that the Shanxi merchant?"

"Yes." Cao Huachun said: "He went to the shipyard and wanted us to leave the port immediately, or there is a way to prevent a batch of ships going north from being detained."

Zhu Xu smiled strangely. Now many ships are forced to stop in Shandong. They can neither board nor return, nor should they go by land, because there are frequent civil upheavals in Shandong, and there are beacon fires everywhere. He can only wait for the situation in the capital to subside before he dares to continue going north.

Obviously, this Yang Huaizhong did not come for him alone, most of them were launched by Shanxi merchants to test the direction of the wind.

Zhu Xu tapped his fingers on the table, and the corners of his mouth gradually turned up. With a wave of his hand, Cao Huachun approached, and said in a low voice: "Well, let Zhou Jianyu increase the price first, and let them bleed once before agreeing. Then, whether they go south or Those who go to the north will be strictly inspected. If any prohibited items are found, the entire fleet will be seized. Except for the prohibited items, the others will be redeemed at a high price. This will go back and forth a few times, and when the time comes, someone will come forward and ask them to come forward. At least [-]% profit!"

Listening to Zhu Xu's words, Cao Huachun trembled in his heart, Yang Huaizhong was so hateful that His Highness King Hui came up with such a "vicious" idea to deal with them.

Volume Three

Chapter 125 Wei Zhongxian Comes Back

Zhu Xu liked this kind of free money very much, he waved away Cao Huachun with a smile, lay down on the chair, closed his eyes and meditated.

But his heart kept turning, his business empire was basically established.

Chengdong Workshop will produce many strange luxury goods in the future, and with his gradually expanding channels, they will flow to the whole of Ming Dynasty and abroad.

Huitong Commercial Bank, this is a sharp weapon for making money. His goal is to build him into the strongest bank in Ming Dynasty, whether it is the Shanxi merchants in the north, the rich southern government and business groups, or the so-called Nanyang merchants who go to sea. Zhu Xu They are all going to drive their money to his Huitong Commercial Bank.

Huimin Chamber of Commerce, this is the most important channel. With the rice and grain merchants in the capital as the leader, the low-priced food is sold well all over the country, and the channel cooperation is also extended to the whole country. The profit may be very low, but what Zhu Xu values ​​is the channel. !

Huiyun Shipping Company, this is the north-south artery, Zhu Xu holds this, he has a bargaining chip with the north and south merchants, his other two major industries can be based on this and continue to expand, which will greatly reduce resistance.

The other one is private salt. This main destination is currently the Jinren in Liaodong, and the annual profit target is 1000 million taels of silver!

Zhu Xu tapped the edge of the chair with his fingers, thinking silently in his heart.

By around September next year, his financial pressure will be completely relieved. Whether it is business expansion or cost investment, there will still be profits. Such profits will become more and more terrifying as time goes by.

"Based on my method, by the seventh year of the apocalypse, I can have a profit of around 2000 million taels per year. This is almost equivalent to a year's tax revenue in the orthodox years. It should be enough..."

Zhu Xu has read the records of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, and knows that the decline of the Ming Dynasty's national taxation began with the Civil Fortress Change. Since then, the imperial court's ability to control the local area has declined sharply, which has also led to a rapid loss of tax revenue. In less than a hundred years, only two or three out of ten are left.

After Zhu Xu made such a calculation, he also gained a little confidence in his heart, so he closed his eyes and fell asleep contentedly.

Water transportation is a matter of national interest, and there must be no delay. After Zhou Yingqiu took the opportunity to consolidate his position in the Ministry of Industry, he also showed his extraordinary skills and handled it quickly. It took less than ten days to clear the water transportation ships. , let go.

With this period of time, Huiyun Shipping Company has won enough business and gained a firm foothold in the water transportation. With the secret assistance of several yamen, the influence will gradually expand, and there will be no shortage of business in the future. It's really a lot of money!

In September, the weather in Beijing is still very hot.

In Kunning Palace, Zhu Xu was lying on the table, looking weakly at Empress Zhang opposite.